1 . For uncounted generations, trillions of coral polyps (珊瑚虫) have lived and died, leaving behind a material called limestone. Throughout History, limestone was used to construct the Great Pyramid of Egypt, as well as many churches and castles.
Indeed, a living coral reef is remarkable, a “city beneath the sea” filled with a rich variety of life. Most coral reefs can be found in warm, shallow oceans. They occupy just a small part of the ocean floor, but host 25 percent of all ocean life. Each reef is full of colorful fish as well as coral that forms wonderful patterns. In addition to their beauty, the reefs are an important food source for fish, and for. humans.
Threats to coral reefs
Reasons for hope
These threats to coral reefs are very serious, but there is reason to hope that they will survive. If we take steps toward coral reef conservation, it is likely that these tiny creatures — which survived natural threats for millions of years — will be able to rebuild. As conservationist Robert Richmond says, “
| A．A diversity of life |
| B．A city above the sea |
| C．Given a chance, they can come back |
| D．Yet the greatest limestone structures in the world are built underwater |
| E．Various human activities can cause great harm to the world’s coral reefs |
| F．As a result, the fish became stunned, which makes them easy to collet. |
| G．This kills most living things nearby and causes damage to the reef’s structure |
2 . Sharks and their relatives are some of the most threatened vertebrates (脊椎动物) on Earth. Coral reefs (珊瑚礁) provide homes for countless fish species that are vital for fisheries and are therefore an especially important ecosystem for humans — and one where the decline of shark populations seems to be especially acute.
The study by Simpfendorfer with his team is the result of a worldwide collaboration called the Global FinPrint project. The data analyzed include more than 20,000 hours of standardized underwater video taken at nearly 400 reefs in 67 countries around the world. It reveals declines of 60 to 73% of once-abundant coral reef shark species at reefs around the world. The global conservation status of sharks and rays (鳐鱼) is worse than a decade ago and is even more concerning for some groups of sharks.
However, the findings of Simpfendorfer with his team include signs of hope and a clear path forward. Their results show that although shark populations in many reefs had declined, some healthy reef shark populations remained. The reefs with healthier shark populations had some important similarities: They tended to be in the waters of high-income countries with stronger natural resource management regulations. Unfortunately, such countries are relatively rare, and lower-income countries tend to have fewer resources for sustainable management.
The most unexpected result of the study is that a decline or complete loss of shark species in one reef was not always associated with similar changes in nearby reefs. They found that one reef can be overfished so badly that a once-common reef shark species is totally gone, but another reef a short distance away can have healthy populations of that same species.
The problem is clear — animals that provide ecosystem services that are vital for human food security and livelihoods are disappearing at an alarming rate. The loss of sharks and the ecosystem services they provide represents an ecological disaster that can cause substantial harm to humans.
1. Why is Simpfendorfer with his team mentioned in paragraph 2?| A．To stress the result of global collaboration. |
| B．To state the urgency of protecting the ocean. |
| C．To show the severe condition of certain sharks. |
| D．To present the figures of their contributions to sharks. |
| A．developed countries | B．strict laws in rich countries |
| C．similarities between other waters | D．overfishing management regulations |
| A．Humans and animals coexist in ecosystem. |
| B．Changes in reefs lead to loss of shark species. |
| C．It’s not clear whether humans cause damage to biodiversity. |
| D．The declined shark species have nothing to do with overfishing. |
| A．Acute Decline of reef sharks | B．Potential recovery of reef sharks |
| C．Global cooperation of food security | D．Amazing discovery of Coral reefs |
3 . From May to October in the southeastern U. S., five species of turtles move ashore under the cover of night to lay their eggs on the beach. During this time, thousands of turtle-loving volunteers search the shorelines for the turtles tracks as part of an ongoing effort to gather population data and protect the nests. But since sea turtles disturb huge areas of sand to hide their nests, human monitors are often left guessing where the eggs are.
Now, a new study suggests man’s best friend can do it better. A detecting dog named Dory found the location of sea turtle eggs more accurately than human volunteers- crucial information when all U. S. sea turtle species are threatened or endangered, says study leader Rebekah Lindborg.
Over months of training on a 50-by-50-square-foot artificial beach. Dory was trained to be alert to the smell of “cloacal mucus,” a sticky substance that coats a sea turtle’s freshly laid eggs, with Lindborg as her handler.
Then, the team convinced the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)to allow a friendly competition. During the high nesting seasons of 2017 and 2018, two groups went around a stretch of shoreline about five miles long in Vero Beach, Florida. Dory had a sensitive nose for turtles, identifying 560 sea turtle nests from three species. People found only 256.
Dory was also significantly better than her human competitors at choosing where to dig for eggs, substantially reducing the number of holes dug. She was also harder to stump—while human volunteers couldn’t find the eggs in 14.8 percent of nests, Dory only failed to deliver 5.7 percent of the time.
In a word, a dog could make a difference in situations where time is of the essence. That could be when you’re under the gun to relocate a nest that’s about to be flooded when the wave rolls in, or before heavy machinery rolls over the nest site for a construction project.
1. What is a challenge to volunteers concerning protecting turtles?| A．Covering their tracks. | B．Locating their nests. |
| C．Analyzing their population data. | D．Removing cloacal mucus from their eggs. |
| A．To seek help for their research on turtles. | B．To recommend their dog join the turtle search. |
| C．To test the results of their dog training. | D．To ask permission to use an artificial beach. |
| A．Get challenged. | B．Make choices. | C．Lose control. | D．Stay focused. |
| A．Watch the strange competition between dogs and turtles. |
| B．Meet Dory, the dog detective of sea turtle nests. |
| C．Protecting sea turtles has gone to volunteers. |
| D．Finding sea turtle eggs can be really hard. |
4 . More than one-third of the world’s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be sustainable because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
| B．The burden of population growth on the planet. |
| C．The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
| D．The great impact of climate change on food. |
| A．A good system is needed to carry out it effectively. |
| B．It would take a long term to have an effect. |
| C．It is only workable on a small scale. |
| D．It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
| A．It is highly profitable. |
| B．It is easy to carry out. |
| C．It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. |
| D．It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
| A．How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced |
| B．How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet |
| C．How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
| D．How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |
5 . The ability to solve complex math problems is one thing that sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Despite this fact, some animals do seem to have at least one basic mathematical ability-they can, in a sense, count.
In the early 1900s, the horse Clever Hans drew worldwide attention in Berlin when his trainer showed that he could count and solve math problems, tapping his feet to indicate a number. However, researchers later discovered that Clever Hans didn’t actually have mathematical skills, but the horse did own impressive observation skills. That is, he was unable to answer questions that his questioners also couldn’t answer because Clever Hans was actually reading minute facial and body language clues to determine the correct responses.
While Clever Hans failed his math quiz a century ago, studies in more recent decades have shown that many species do actually have a “number sense”. In the late 1980s, researchers showed that chimpanzees (黑猩猩) could add up the number of pieces of chocolate in two food bowls (up to five pieces of chocolate in each bowl), compare it with the sum of two other food bowls, and correctly choose the larger of the two sums 90 percent of the time. Some other mammals, including lions, wolves and black bears, have also showed the ability to discriminate (辨别) between quantities — and so have animals from various other animal classes.
Some research suggests that the number sense may be something that certain animals are born with. In 2015, scientists found that baby chicks as young as 3 days old could identify smaller and larger quantities and might even think of numbers on a “number line” running from left to right, similar to humans.
Whatever the case, our number sense is not unique in the animal kingdom. In fact, it may not be something that’s reserved to just animals: Venus flytraps can also “count”.
1. How did Clever Hans give the correct answer to the math problem?| A．By tapping his feet to count. | B．By guessing the answer casually. |
| C．By turning to his trainer for help. | D．By reading the questioner’s response. |
| A．They can tell the difference between quantities. |
| B．They can pass the quiz with observation skills. |
| C．They can choose food bowls of specific shape. |
| D．They can add up all pieces of chocolate in four bowls. |
| A．An insect. | B．A fish. | C．A bird. | D．A plant. |
| A．Can animals count? | B．Can animals use numbers? |
| C．Animals’ mathematical training. | D．Animals’ problem-solving ability. |
This newly opened smart museum has
As the highlight of the museum, the core exhibition showcases over 1,000 cultural relics
Nature lovers can look forward to particularly dazzling displays of reds, ambers, butter yellows and russet browns this autumn, said the National Trust.
Andy Jasper、head of gardens and parklands at the National Trust,“UK is about to be wrapped in a “warm blanket” of beautiful colours. This year’s summer weather has helped resist the trend of recent dry ones, so our plants and trees finally had a chance to hydrate(补水) and are now gearing up for a dazzling show. The autumn spectacle is likely to start in Scotland, where temperatures typically drop the fastest, followed by the north of England and Northern Ireland, with a domino effect down the rest of England and Wales through to the southwest.”
John Lanyon, Glendurgan’s head gardener,“We have really high hopes for a spectacular autumn display, which will make up for last year’s poor season. In 2022 the lack of rain and high temperatures put our trees under huge stress before we experienced strong winds that blew the leaves off before they had a chance to turn.”
Tom Hill, a trees and woodland adviser for southeast England,“I was hoping for the first “normal autumn” in a while. Our gardens and woodlands in the southeast are directly facing the impacts of climate change in this country. The older trees that we care for in London are particularly vulnerable to suffering from prolonged droughts.”
Luke Barley, the trust’s national trees and woodland adviser,“The charity was identifying trees with stress caused by years of drought and increasingly warm winters.”
1. Which region is predicted to experience the start of the autumn spectacle first?| A．Wales. | B．North of England. | C．Scotland. | D．Nor them Ireland. |
| A．Lack of rain. | B．High temperatures. | C．Strong winds. | D．Wet summer. |
| A．The older trees in London. |
| B．The trees with stress. |
| C．The gardens in the southeast. |
| D．The woodlands in the southeast. |
Spotted lanternflies (斑点灯笼蝇) are an invasive species. Since 2014, they have been seen all across the eastern United States. The insects are harmful to many plants, and can disturb entire ecosystems. State officials have urged people to kill spotted lanternflies wherever they see them.
When Joy saw the pests in her school courtyard, she thought she had to do something. “I’ve always wanted to take environmental action,” she says, “and show people that no one is ever too small to make a difference.”
So she started a club called Squash (压扁). Its mission is to kill spotted lanternflies around the school. More than 20 students have joined. At first, they trapped the pests in empty water bottles and then squashed them. In a single day, the club managed to kill more than a hundred spotted lanternflies.
Joy wanted to do more. With research, she discovered a plant called milkweed. It’s nutritious for pollinators (传粉昆虫) such as monarch butterflies but poisonous to spotted lanternflies. Joy thought that using milkweed along with the traps made specifically for spotted lanternflies would be a better way to kill them. The issue was that they didn’t have enough money to buy milkweed and the traps.
The kids were hoping to raise money for their school to address the big problem. Their goal was to raise $200, the cost of the equipment needed to kill spotted lanternflies around their school. They got part of the way there, with about $75. They decided to attract more fundraisers. “We discovered that if you find your voice,” Joy says, “you can do much more.”
In May, Joy and other students from Squash gathered in Columbus Park, in New York City. They set up a table with lemonade, cookies, and origami figures for sale. The money will be used to buy milkweed and the traps.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
To attract more attention, the students divided their work into various roles.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the day progressed, the students’ efforts paid off.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Placed before you are two pots. Each contains 100 balls. You are given a clear description of the first pot’s contents, in which there are 50 red balls and 50 black balls. The economist running the experiment is tight-lipped about the second, saying only that there are 100 balls divided between red and black in some percentage. Then you are offered a choice. Pick a red ball from a pot and you will get a million dollars. Which pot would you like to pull from? Now try again, but select a black ball. Which pot this time? Most people choose the first pot both times, despite such a choice implying that there are both more and fewer red balls than in the second pot.
This fact is known as the Ellsberg paradox after Daniel Ellsberg, who called the behaviour hate uncertainty. It reveals a deeper problem facing the world as it struggles with climate change.
Ignorance of the future carries a cost today: uncertainty makes risks uninsurable, or at the very least expensive. The less insurers know about risks, the more capital they need to protect their balance-sheets against possible losses.
Insurance is a tool of climate adaptation. Indeed, insurance calculators have as big a role to play as activists in the fight against climate change. Without insurance, those whose homes burn in a wildfire or are destroyed by a flood will lose everything. Insurance can also be a motive for corrective action. Higher insurance expenses, which accurately reflect risk, stimulate people to adapt sooner, whether by discouraging building in risky areas or encouraging people to move away from high fire risk land. If prices are wrong, society will be more hurt by a hotter world than otherwise would be the case. Politicians considering financial aid for home insurance on flood plains ought to note.
1. The experiment of the two pots shows that ___________.| A．instinct sometimes works better than reasoning | B．most people prefer predictability to uncertainty |
| C．people are willing to take risks to get a reward | D．it is impossible to always make the right decision |
| A．It raises people’s awareness of climate change. | B．It prevents people from taking risks. |
| C．It motivates people to adapt to risky environment. | D．It helps climate refugees to relocate. |
| A．Opposing | B．Supportive | C．Uncertain | D．Ambiguous |
| A．Prevention is better than remedy | B．Improving forecast can reduce uncertainty |
| C．Uncertainty pushes up the price of insurance | D．Speedy action is urgently needed for climate change |
10 . What concerns the man about the oil company?
| A．It causes water pollution. |
| B．It makes locals lose their jobs. |
| C．It results in a fight on social media. |
